Episode 29

* * *

It seemed like Raiden wouldn’t notice me, so I unconsciously thought.

“Oh, hello!”

As soon as our eyes met, I hastily greeted him.

However, with no response, I couldn’t help but feel quite embarrassed as he stared at me.

I awkwardly smiled, intending to playfully ask if something was on my face.

‘…Because he’s pitiful.’

But the image of Raiden from the conversation with Grandpa Ben flashed before me.

Pitiful… Pitiful…

Surely, Raiden must have spoken those words without much thought. Moreover, considering he treated an orphan like me with kindness out of sympathy, I had no reason to be hurt.

It wasn’t an insult, and it was a valid point.

“…Do you have any tasks for me?”

I felt embarrassed about my situation. I didn’t even know how he looked at me, and discussing whether he was a good person or not felt awkward.

In an instant, my face turned red.

He must have said it just because he pitied me.

Feeling so embarrassed, I wanted to go back to my room quickly.

But there was still no response from Raiden. I felt ashamed, not knowing how he saw me, and feeling embarrassed about murmuring about whether he was a good person or not.

In an instant, my face burned.

He was just being kind to me because I was pitiful.

Feeling so embarrassed, I wanted to go back to my room quickly.

However, there was still no response from Raiden. He probably wasn’t assessing how pitiful I was.

“…Duke?”

Calling him again, unfortunately, it seemed he couldn’t hear my words of pity.

“I will take my leave now.”

Eventually, leaving Raiden without a response, I walked away.

“…”

But after a short distance, I turned around. Raiden, without saying a word, was silently following me.

He, who was grumbling earlier, now responded with a shameless face.

“You go your way, and I’ll go mine.”

He answered only after a brief moment of awkwardness.

Ha, he must have thought I wasn’t worth answering because I was pitiful.

Leaving Raiden behind without a response, I quickened my pace.

‘Really… What on earth is he doing?’

Even though I tried to ignore him, completely ignoring him wasn’t an easy task. But I made an effort not to look back.

When I turned back again, we had reached the servants’ quarters.

Whether it was because I didn’t know I would suddenly turn back or not, Raiden noticeably flinched.

What, what!

Wasn’t it against the rules for him to follow me when I turned back?

“I’ll go in now. Duke, please go your way quickly.”

I bowed to him and hastily entered the building.

I regretted inwardly, wondering why I had acted that way towards the Duke. However,

‘This fool!’

Even if I lay on the bed and regretted it, the fact that I did something stupid would never change.

* * *

My heart felt tight as I stared at the man’s deep smile in the portrait hanging on the wall.

It was unclear whether he was looking at someone outside the painting or at the artist who drew him.

But one thing was certain, the man didn’t seem to be in a good mood.

And there was a woman sitting behind the portrait, her atmosphere similar to the man’s.

Swallowing hard, I cautiously spoke to Amy, who was sitting in front of me with a dignified posture.

“…I heard you called for me.”

She quietly placed the teacup down and spoke.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m thinking of doing some shopping today and needed someone to carry the bags, so I called.”

Why did it have to be me? She clearly didn’t seem to like me.

I hesitated for a moment before responding.

“I appreciate the honor of accompanying the young lady, but I injured my leg last time…”

I tried to convey that my leg was hurt, but Amy cut me off.

“I already heard that story. They said you could move without any problem.”

She stood up from the sofa, picking up her bag.

“And honestly, asking you to carry the bags was an excuse. I took your brooch last time, right?”

A faint smile appeared on Amy’s face.

“I called you to apologize for that incident and to give you some other gift.”

She nodded towards the door.

“I hope you won’t disregard my sincerity?”

From the beginning, I didn’t have a choice.

* * *

“How long has it been since you entered the Duke’s mansion?”

“It hasn’t been long. About… four months, I think.”

“Four months…”

Amy murmured quietly. I waited silently in the seat next to Amy for the carriage to stop.

“Miss, should I drop you off at Roland Street?”

“Yeah.”

Finally, the carriage stopped.

Roland Street was a lane crowded with boutiques frequented by noble ladies.

For some reason, it overlapped with the day when Raiden had brought me as a porter, claiming that he would go shopping.

Amy, who was silently observing the passing people, opened her mouth.

“You seem to have a keen interest in clothes.”

It was a fact I already knew. However, it felt a bit awkward to answer that I knew. I listened to her words silently.

“And you and I seem to match well in that regard.”

Amy, who had been staring out the window, turned her gaze towards me.

“How about you?”

Beyond the window, through which Amy leaned, I could see the dazzlingly displayed dresses in the boutique. Unconsciously, my eyes were drawn to the countless dresses.

“I… I’m not particularly interested in clothes.”

“Really? You’d probably be quite popular if you dressed well, unexpectedly.”

Amy glanced up and down at me.

“Then, try to cultivate an eye for fashion by following me around for the day and looking at clothes.”

Saying that, Amy roughly handed me the bag she was holding and got out of the carriage. I accepted her bag and followed her quietly.

“Wow…”

As I wandered through Roland Street, I let out a small sigh. Amy, who was walking ahead, asked me while looking at me.

“Aren’t they pretty?”

“Yes…”

“Well, men’s clothes are dull just by looking at them. Well, there might be colorful clothes, but…”

As Amy spoke, she suddenly burst into laughter.

“You wouldn’t wear a yellow suit, would you?”

Amy’s lips were full of smiles.

“Imagine this: if you wear the sky-blue suit I like as an event on the day of the wedding, there will be no wishes left.”

Sky-blue and yellow…

Frankly, with Raiden Akaruth’s face, anything would look good. Even the plain clothes I was wearing now would look good on his face.

Amy was drawing a brilliant future, and a delightful expression appeared on her face.

“Then, I’ll wear a navy dress that goes well with his suit. I’ll wear a dress that shows my ankles to look refreshing.”

…And Amy would probably look good in any dress, just like Raiden. With her fair and smooth skin, it seemed that nothing would not suit her.

She stopped in front of a unique boutique building with a distinctive design of brown bricks on the first floor, pink bricks on the second floor, and light green bricks on the third floor. The rightmost ceiling was dome-shaped, adding elegance to it.

When the door to the boutique opened with a jingle, the employees inside began to greet Amy familiarly.

“It would have been nice if you had come too.”

Her face was full of regret. Unconsciously, I spoke.

“Miss seems to… love the Duke.”

Amy paused for a moment at my words. I was surprised at myself for throwing such a topic. The worry crossed my mind for a moment. But, colorlessly, Amy answered nonchalantly.

“Yeah, that’s right. I love the Duke.”

Suddenly, Amy turned to look at me and spoke with a firm voice.

“Being born as a woman and loving a man like the Duke is a natural thing, right?”

“…That’s right. Even if I were a woman, I think I would have loved the Duke.”

Amy started trying on various dresses on me. For some reason, I couldn’t help but feel anxious.

And there was one more reason that made me uneasy. The boutique employees were not looking at us with strange eyes.

The sight of a lady confidently trying on a dress for a man wearing court attire might have felt somewhat awkward.

“Do you have a lover?”

“Not yet.”

Amy shrugged lightly.

“There will definitely be a girl who likes you. Among all these various preferences, there must be a girl who likes handsome guys, right?”

I gave her a wry smile in response to her words.

“If there’s someone who can appreciate my charm, that’s enough. Once you get to know me, you’ll find that I’m quite a charming person.”

As my words came to an end, an eerie silence settled in. Feeling awkward, I quietly added,

“…Or maybe not.”

Amy, who was silently observing me, lifted the corners of her mouth slightly.

“I don’t quite understand men liking men.”

“What?”

Amy turned my body so that I could face myself in the mirror. She gently held my shoulders and draped a red silk dress over me.

The dress itself was beautiful. However, as it touched my body, the beauty of the dress faltered.

“Can it not suit me to this extent?”

I couldn’t bring myself to meet my own eyes in the mirror and turned my head away subtly. However, Amy grabbed my face and turned it back towards the mirror.

As if telling me to look straight at myself in the mirror.

“Loving a duke, a man. It could make headlines in a newspaper.”